Rav4 Rear End Rumble

14 posts in this topic

My wifes 2001 Rav4 VVti runs well with no noticeable faults other than a rumble/whine from the rear end. It has done this for the last 5k miles since we bought the car and I negotiated down the price accordingly.

The noise is a groan/whine most noticeable between 25mph and 65mph increasing in noise with speed. after 65/70mph the road noise drowns it out. It doesn't seem to change with direction and doesn't seem to be brake related

I took the car to a supposed 4x4 specialist who charged me an hours labour to tell me they weren't sure where the noise was coming from. They listened to the rear diff on the ramp while running which seemed fairly noise free and concluded that their best guess was a wheel bearing, probably drivers side rear. They also told me they had customers running round with much louder drones from their car and not to worry just keep running it until it gets worse. Not exactly preventative maintanace and not good enough to keep me happy!

I duly replaced the drivers rear wheel bearing which after doing numerous BMW and VW ones over my driving career was pleasantly easy. The noise definately improved but didn't go away entirely. Over the next few months the drone if anything has worsened again. The rear discs and pads were needing done anyway, so I replaced the passenger side rear wheel bearing while I was at it a couple of weeks ago. No noticeable improvement in the noise.

Is there any other obvious parts of the rear drivetrain that would relate to this that i'm missing? Are the rear Cv's known for this when on the way out?

Also if anyone knows of another toyota which shares the rear calipers with the Rav4 it would also be useful. I snapped the corner of the caliper casting when removing one of the pad pins which was corroded in place(the caliper casting seemed to be made of chocolate, it was only a small hit on the opposite end of the pin that cracked it) The pin still seats ok, but would rather replace the caliper, struggling to find a Rav4 one in a breakers

My wifes 2001 Rav4 VVti runs well with no noticeable faults other than a rumble/whine from the rear end. It has done this for the last 5k miles since we bought the car and I negotiated down the price accordingly.

The noise is a groan/whine most noticeable between 25mph and 65mph increasing in noise with speed. after 65/70mph the road noise drowns it out. It doesn't seem to change with direction and doesn't seem to be brake related

I took the car to a supposed 4x4 specialist who charged me an hours labour to tell me they weren't sure where the noise was coming from. They listened to the rear diff on the ramp while running which seemed fairly noise free and concluded that their best guess was a wheel bearing, probably drivers side rear. They also told me they had customers running round with much louder drones from their car and not to worry just keep running it until it gets worse. Not exactly preventative maintanace and not good enough to keep me happy!

I duly replaced the drivers rear wheel bearing which after doing numerous BMW and VW ones over my driving career was pleasantly easy. The noise definately improved but didn't go away entirely. Over the next few months the drone if anything has worsened again. The rear discs and pads were needing done anyway, so I replaced the passenger side rear wheel bearing while I was at it a couple of weeks ago. No noticeable improvement in the noise.

Is there any other obvious parts of the rear drivetrain that would relate to this that i'm missing? Are the rear Cv's known for this when on the way out?

Also if anyone knows of another toyota which shares the rear calipers with the Rav4 it would also be useful. I snapped the corner of the caliper casting when removing one of the pad pins which was corroded in place(the caliper casting seemed to be made of chocolate, it was only a small hit on the opposite end of the pin that cracked it) The pin still seats ok, but would rather replace the caliper, struggling to find a Rav4 one in a breakers

Bloody great slap nail in his rear tyre had been humming along in the key of "G"....have a right good look at the rubbery bits, even for a wee egg or distortification as hinted at by Boffy and Anchorman.

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At one point we had a very strange noise on our VW that everyone suspected was a wheel bearing.

After replacing the bearing it was finally traced to irregular pattern wear on the tyres.

I would second the idea of moving tyres around, but it might be an idea to rotate them as well so that each tyre is rotating in the opposite direction to current. (Ie swap front right with rear left etc).

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A couple of thousand miles after putting new tyres on my RAV, I always notice (or think I notice) a rumbling from the rear. It disappears again as the mileage increases.

Also, as others have said, it's unlikely to be the culprit but do check not just the level but also the viscosity of the oil in the rear diff. Garages - even Toyota dealers - tend to forget to change it and it deteriorates very quickly.

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I had tried swapping the wheels front to back before taking it in to be looked at by the 4x4 specialist, but that was prior to doing the rear bearings, will try again see if that makes any difference. Haven't checked the diff oil, but after being told the noise wasn't from there didn't think to. Ill probably drain the diff and change the oil as it cant do any harm and don't know when it was last done anyway. Anyone have info on the diff oil specs?

The prop shaft UJ that Davrav mentioned and the propshaft bearing bothwellbuyer brought up may be worth looking at. Any easy way to check these without pulling the drive train apart?

Thanks Again

Gavin

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The noise is a groan/whine most noticeable between 25mph and 65mph increasing in noise with speed. after 65/70mph the road noise drowns it out. It doesn't seem to change with direction and doesn't seem to be brake related

do check the wife hasnt been left on the rear seat.

Gus

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I had tried swapping the wheels front to back before taking it in to be looked at by the 4x4 specialist, but that was prior to doing the rear bearings, will try again see if that makes any difference. Haven't checked the diff oil, but after being told the noise wasn't from there didn't think to. Ill probably drain the diff and change the oil as it cant do any harm and don't know when it was last done anyway. Anyone have info on the diff oil specs?

The prop shaft UJ that Davrav mentioned and the propshaft bearing bothwellbuyer brought up may be worth looking at. Any easy way to check these without pulling the drive train apart?

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Thanks Bothwell buyer, thankfully a good shoogle also works on the east coast of scotland as well as the west. Not sure that our friends down south would have the skills to shoogle something though!

Gust, I usually find the groaning and whining much worse from the wife when in my M3 rather than the Rav4 as it tends to get driven a little more enthusiastically. The road noise usually drowns her out eventually though